Machine for opening



(No Model.)

H. 0. PERHAM & A. CLARKE. MAGHINE FOR OPENING, CLEANING, AND GONDENSING TEXTILE FIBERS.

N0. 295.938 Patented Apr. 1, 1884.

sse s UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE,

HAVEN o. PER-HAM AND ALFRED CLARKE, OF LownnnytmssAonusnrrs.

MACHINE FOR OPENING, CLEANING, AND CONDENSING TEXTILE FIBERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 295,938, dated April 1, 1884-.

Application filed June18, 1883. (No model.)

Tea/Z13 whom it may concern):

Be it known that we, HAVEN G. PERHAM and ALFRED CLARKE, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Opening, Cleaning, and Condensing Textile Fibers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the wire cages used in machines of the above class for collecting the fibers to form laps, and to means for exhausting air from the same, through the ends thereof, in such a manner as to avoid inequality of draft and unevenness of the laps.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central crosssection of the fan-case exhausting mechanism.

and fan-shaft bearing, showing also the fanshaft, its pulley, and the fan in elevation; Fig.

2, a side view of thefan-case and part of the frame of the machine .to which it is applied;

Fig. 3, a vertical cross-section of a lapper just in front of the cages, showing the cages, the exhaust-pipes, the fan, fan-shaft, and pulley,- Fig. 4, a side elevation of a lapper with forward exhaust-pipes, the fan'case being in section.

A is the frame of the lapper, standing upon the floor X; B B, the apron-rolls; C, the feedapron,the apron and one of the apron-rolls, B, being shown by dotted lines; D, the apron side; E E E feed-rolls,- F, the beater, shown by dotted lines 5 F, the beater-shaft; F, the driving-pulley on the beater-shaft. F is the driving-belt. G is the beater-grate; H ,H are upper andlower wire collectingcages; I I, drawing-rolls; J J J calender-rolls; K K, 1ap-rolls, all of these being of any'usual construction and operation, except the modifications hereinafter stated of the cages and their Thetop of the machine is provided with a cover, L, between the feed-rolls and the calender-rolls, the parts L I L over the heater and the cages, respectively,

being hinged covers, as usual. There is commonly placed below and a little in front of the wire cages a long fan, which reaches nearly across the machine,and is connected with airexhaust pipes, which, when the fan is operated, take the air from the ends of the cages, and thereby suck the fibrous material on which the machine is operating onto the front side of the revolving cages to form a lap,'and also drawing more orless dustinto the cages through their covering, and out of the ends of the cages through air-pipes to the fan, and; through the floor into a proper receptacle or out-ofdoors. Such fans as now used are cumbersome, and, owing to their position, cannot readily be examined or repaired while in the machine, and do not always draw the air equally from each end of the same cage, so that the fibers are deposited faster at one end of the cage than at the other, and the resulting lap is thicker at one edge than at the other. To remedy these defects we use two smallrotary fans, which, withtheir cases, are placed one on each side of the machine, and wholly outside of the usual frame thereof. Each fan consists of a hub, m, provided with arms m, to which are secured vanes W, in the usual manner, by bolts or screws m The hub is placed on the fanshaft M, and secured thereto in any usual manner, as by set-screws m. The fan-shaftM turns in bearings secured to the side of the case by bolts and nuts 1?. The bearing shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is formed, for convenience, in three parts, 0 0 0 the parts 0 0' together being in the form of a horizontally divided flanged journal-box,the flanges of the box being bolted to the fan-case, as above described, and the lowor half, 0, of the box being provided with the bracket 0, which reaches under the drivingpulley M of the fan and supports the outer end of the fan-shaft. The third part, 0, of the bearing covers the outer end of the fan-shaft, and is secured by screws to the top of the bracket 0. The fan-case is formed by the frame A of the machine, and by a flange, a, cast on said frame, and by a plate, a, held against theflange nby screws S, passing through ears a", cast on the platen, and entering the frame A outside of said flange n. By loosening-these screws S the fan, with the plate a, may be removed from the machine for eXamination or repairs. The fan may be driven by a belt, R, connecting the pulley M with a pul ley, F*, secured to the beater-shaft. On each side of the machine there is'an opening, t, in the frame A, at the center of the fan, into a horizontal trunk or pipe, T, which opens at t through the frame A into the vertical side pipe, T, and the frame'is provided with openin gs t t? at the ends of the cages, respectively,

' into any suitable receiver.

which openings 16 25 lead into said side pipe, T, so that when the machine is operated air will be drawn from the ends of the cages,

causing the fibers operated on by the beater to be drawn from the beater and to adhere to the surface of the cages, and drawing the dust from the fibers into the cages and through the exhaust-pipes T T into the fan-case, from which they are expelled by the operation of thefan through the opening X in the floor X The side pipes,

T, are removable, being held to the frame by the screws V, which allow of their being removed and cleaned.

It will be seen that by varying the speed of the fans relatively to each other the amount of air taken from the opposite ends of the cages may be varied, and that when the machine isfirst set up the relative speed of the fans may be so adjusted as to produce a lap of uniform thickness from edge to edge, the variation of speed being accomplished by varying the sizes of the driving-pulleys, respect- 1. The combination of one or more lap-collecting cages, and independent means at each end of such cage or cages for exhausting air from the ends thereof, as and for the purpose specified. i

2. The combination of one or more lap-collecting cages, and separate exhaust-pipesone at each end of said cagesand separate aireXhausting means for each of said pipes, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of one or more lap-collecting cages, and separate exhaust-pipes-one at each end of said cages-and separate exhaust-fans for each of said pipes, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of one or more lap-collecting cages, each provided with a central vertical partition, and independent means at each end of such cage or cages for exhausting air from the ends thereof, as and for thepurpose specified.

5. The combination of one or more lap-collecting cages, each provided with a Vertical central partition, separate eXhaust-pipesone at each end of said cagesand separate airexhausting means for each of said pipes, as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination of one or more lap-collect-ing cages,each provided with a central vertical partition, and separate eXhaust-pipes one at each end of said cages and separate exhaust fans for each of said pipes, as and for the purpose specified.

HAVEN G. PERHAM. ALFRED CLARKE.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. Moons, J osnrni Y. BRADBURY. 

